The healing and guidance we need, Valente aptly notes, may come from “simply listening to the voice of God.” That voice is everywhere, but it is found most especially in the monastery of the soul where God provides possibilities, insights, and the energy to embody them in the concreteness and bustle of life. Read more
I am daily reminded of the truths revealed in chaos theory’s metaphorical “ butterfly effect.” According to the butterfly effect, small actions, such as a butterfly flapping its wings in Santa Cruz, California, where I played as a high school and college student, can shape the weather patterns in Cape Cod, where now I live, write, and pastor a congregation. This is one of the nuggets of wisdom I found in reading Laura Sumner Truax’s Undone. Small actions, authentic, yet imperfect,... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for September 15, 2013 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10 Pardon and Punishment Today’s readings contrast punishment and grace. The Hebraic scriptures describe God annihilating an unfaithful nation. God is the agent of national catastrophe, aiming at punishing the unjust wealthy for their abuse of the poor. Those who deny God’s existence, as the Psalm notes, will suffer the consequences of their misbehavior. The Psalmist identifies belief in God with relational and economic justice. The Epistle and... Read more
To me, being a grandparent is a spiritual and ethical vocation that begins with my two little grandsons and expands to honor every child. Read more
Jack Graham’s Unseen: Angels, Satan, Heaven, Hell, and Winning the War for Eternity is a must-read for anyone who wishes to learn about traditional images of the afterlife and the spiritual world. Although I take a very different theological and biblical bath, Graham well represents a literalist understanding of scripture, and that in itself is worth the read, purely to gain awareness of a certain type of Christian thinking. I use the term “certain type of Christian thinking,” because neither... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary for September 8, 2013 Sacrifice and Artistry: Human and Divine Today’s passages require careful theological navigation. They have often been interpreted to justify the violence of divine omnipotence and a divine omniscience that fully determines the details of our lives from conception to death. Moreover, they have been interpreted in ways that polarize God and the world. We cannot deny the hard sayings of scripture nor should we render them irrelevant by discounting their challenge to... Read more
I am a firm believer in the holy synchronicities of life. As I read the last words of Karen Beattie’s Rock-Bottom Blessings, I looked up and for the first time noticed – I had been living in our new home on Cape Cod for two months! – that my wife had placed an art piece above of our front door, proclaiming Veni Sancte Spiritus, “Come Holy Spirit.” At same moment, I remembered a saying from the English mystic, Julian of... Read more
Paula Huston’s A Land without Sin is a real page turner. I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t know where it was going or if it would be resolved. Reading it was an adventure of the spirit, joining drama, suspense, ethics, and spirituality. Amid the many trajectories of this book, the one that spoke to me was the “impossible possibility” of forgiveness. Vengeance is always a possibility in a sinful world. We want an eye for an eye, whether it... Read more
Lectionary Relections for September 1, 2013 Jeremiah 2:4-13 Psalm 81:1, 10-16 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Luke 14:1, 7-14 Creative Interdependence This week’s lectionary calls us to creative interdependence. We cannot thrive, or even survive, without recognizing and acting upon our sense of interdependence with the world around us. Authentic creation emerges from healthy relatedness, not pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps rugged individualism. In claiming our debt of interdependence and the role of others, most especially God, in our successes, our successes will benefit our families,... Read more
Although I come from the progressive theological and political wing of the Christian family, I always appreciate Os Guinness’ reflections. I am very appreciative of his new book The Global Public Square. Though I take a slightly different path, I find his reflections typically spot on in their assessment of social and cultural trends. As a pastor of a congregation within the United Church of Christ (South Congregational, Centerville, MA), which seeks to welcome people wherever they are on life’s journey, I... Read more
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